Downtown nighttime parking restriction is no more. City says it was in place for only one weekend

The City of Orlando alarmed downtown patrons in early May by limiting nighttime parking as part of ongoing safety measures. Now, the city says the restriction was in place for only one weekend.

The city, along with the Orlando Police Department, quietly put in place a ban on entry and reentry to downtown parking garages after 11 p.m. starting Friday, May 10.

City spokesperson Ashley Papagni told Orlando Weekly at the time the city implemented “limited entrance to city parking garages after 11 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights” starting May 10. Downtown business owners and patrons were left to believe the change had no end date.

Business owners and downtown workers expressed concerns on social media about the change, which they said would worsen traffic and decrease business .

The move echoed a series of downtown safety policies, including requiring special permits for late-night alcohol sales and adjusting the noise ordinance, passed around the same time.

But two months later, the restriction is no longer in effect. The city made no public announcement about the change.

City spokesperson Ashley Papagni told Orlando Weekly Friday the restriction was in place for one weekend.

“Access was limited to the downtown parking garages for one weekend as part of a measure taken as we work to ensure the safety of downtown,” she said.

Orlando Police Chief Eric D. Smith said the parking change was an “experiment” that ended after the public voiced its discontentment at a City Hall meeting July 9, Orlando Business Journal reported Wednesday.

The city did not elaborate on why the change was made for that weekend in May, why it did not clarify the confusion resulting from the policy or why it didn't publicly announce the lifting of the restriction.

Earlier this year, the city extended its moratorium on downtown nightclubs and bars for another six months. Prompted by concerns such as a high concentration of nightclubs downtown and safety and security issues, the moratorium was initially enacted as an ordinance in March 2023, then extended for another six months in August.

City commissioners voted in March to extend the moratorium through Sept. 20, 2024.

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